“One of the violins [on display at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum] was made by Andrea Amati in 1564, part of a commission for Charles IX of France. It is the oldest surviving violin in the world, an exquisite piece of workmanship. The Civic Museum in Cremona has one from the same set [of thirty-eight string instruments commissioned by King Charles], but dated 1566, that was recently valued at $10 million” (pg. 5).

“There it hangs, suspended in its case, visible from every angle, pristine, its varnish as flawless as when Stradivari applied the last few drops in 1716. It is in mint condition because this, the most famous violin in the world, template for countless copies, has hardly ever been played” (Faber 5).

It seems that even Stradvari was so enchanted with the sound that he wouldn’t sell it. (Faber 52)